Ukraine has become a major defence and military partner of Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States after Ukraine was called by the leaders of the regional countries to help set-up air-defences against the Iranian Shahed drones. Ukraine has extensive experience shooting down these drones and will be providing its expertise and technology to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and also Qatar.
Meanwhile, some European defence industry executives are not happy with this unprecedented development. Rheinmetall CEO Armin Papperger told The Atlantic that Ukraine doesn’t have sophisticated battlefield technology and its drones are created by housewives with 3D printers. The comment reads like sour grapes when considering the fact that the Ukrainians are putting out of action up to 30,000 Russian soldiers every month mostly with unmanned drones, which have proven to be a very cost-effective military technology in the use against conventional armies with supplies of heavy weaponry.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump insulted Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince by saying that “he didn’t think he would be kissing my ass” after Iran attacked Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia has been requesting to purchase the latest version of the US-made F-35 fighter jets, and the comments ay have been made in this context. However, in response to Iran’s attacks, Saudi Arabia has signed a defence and military cooperation agreement with Ukraine which also includes weapons purchases.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made a couple of statements yesterday and stressed that Russia is sharing intelligence with Iran. He stated that Russia has shared satellite imagery with Iran of several US sites and bases in the Gulf and stressed that sanctions on Russia should not be lifted as Russia was committed these aggressions.
Newsroom
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